Next leg: NYC

This has been one of the hardest/ most terrifying decisions for me to make: leave a growing career at Demandware/ Salesforce Commerce Cloud and come to New York City and work for Bloomberg.

Now that I’ve been in New York for a few months, I’d like to jot down a few thoughts, so that I could look back on at some point in the future.

• One of the biggest reasons for leaving was to grow my career as a technical person. I was doing really well at Demandware, and I was getting comfortable. It is a great spot to be in. However, drawing from past experience, I figured that the most growth I undergo comes from putting myself in unfamiliar/ uncomfortable position. It’s hard. It sucks. And as the last few months of being in NYC indicates, it really does suck. But, I have also grown. I have been exposed to more technologies and more interesting ways of solving problems.
• I had to restart my PERM application process all over again. At the time, I figured this would be a good thing – I still  have enough buffer time to do so. Looking back, I think perhaps it might have been wiser to stay on for another couple years and complete that.
• Another reason was for Mark and I to experience a new lifestyle. Being in a big city, using public transportation, and most importantly, being more active with easier access to walking/ biking. This has been true. We do enjoy the new lifestyle. On the other hand, it has been dampened by the frustration of Mark’s job seeking process. Hopefully, this is only a temporary setback.
• My parents are coming to visit for an extended period of time again this year. I’d like to be in a place where they can get out of the house on their own and explore. It seems like it shouldn’t be a factor in such a life-changing decision, but if I were honest with myself, I think this is definitely one of the reasons. After being away from home for 12+ years, I’d like to spend more quality time with them.
• After being at Demandware for 3 years, I started to feel like I wasn’t progressing fast enough towards my career goals of being more involved in architecting applications (technical) and in building up teams (non-technical). I understood that I was (and still am) relatively inexperienced in either of those things. From the little I could deduce, those roles require more varied background and experiences. The role at Bloomberg isn’t exactly the big next step up, but I decided to make a leap of faith, hoping that it will add to the diversity of my experiences. This could turn out to be a mistake, who knows. After sharing my decision with the management at Demandware, it seemed like I had a chance to make a shortcut towards my goals with the company. That seemed like too little too late, and given the other reasons, I decided to let go of the leverage and made the jump.

At this juncture, looking back, it is still a toss-up whether this decision has turned out to be the right one. I am going through a lot of challenges, both personally and professionally, that make me constantly question the move. I hope that in a year or so, the outlook on things will improve. I knew that it was a long-term investment that would require a bit of short-term pain. I should try to stay positive and see the rewards.

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